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Spoilers through Season 4 of 'Game of Thrones' and the corresponding novels follow. This post will discuss events that may take place in tonight's episode. Read at your own peril. Winter is coming.

HBO's Game of Thrones wraps its fourth season up tonight, in one of the most highly anticipated season finales on television, "The Children."

Season 4 has strayed further and further from the books by George R. R. Martin, following in the footsteps of last season when the showrunners began steering the television show in new and unexpected directions.

What this means for readers depends on how much you're willing to see the stories changed, and whether you can accept HBO's Game of Thrones as its own separate creature from A Song of Ice and Fire.

The deviations also make it hard to predict what's coming next. If the show were to hew closely to the original, we'd be wrapping up the third novel tonight, A Storm of Swords. That would mean several loose ends would need to be resolved (note, don't read the following if you don't want spoilers.)

If the books and show were in tandem, all of this would be a part of tonight's episode:

Viewers will be introduced to Lady Stoneheart.

Stannis, his army, and Melisandre will arrive at the Wall (and would have arrived by now already) and Mance Rayder is captured.

Tyrion will make his dramatic escape and dish out his parting vengeance.

Arya will leave the Hound to die after a close fight with some particularly nasty villains

Jon will be faced with a choice between being named Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell, or staying true to his vows. Then he will be elected Lord Commander thanks to Sam and Master Aemon.

Bran and company will meet new friends in old places (the titular "children" in this case, which probably refers both to the Children of the Forest and the children looking for them.)

But since all of this simply can't fit into one episode, and since the show has diverged in so many ways from the source material, it's unlikely we'll get all of it. A number of events will carry over into Season 5.

What I do think we'll see for sure: Tyrion's fate, the arrival of Stannis at the Wall during Jon's expedition to speak with Mance, Bran will reach his destination and meet "the children", and Dany will encounter some dire troubles in her quest to become a competent queen. We'll also see the parting of Arya and Sandor Clegane.

What we won't see is the drama following Stannis' arrival at Castle Black. Nor am I certain we'll see Lady Stoneheart until next season. [See update below.]

Whatever happens, it's going to be a huge episode. Season 4---like the book---has some great moments near the end, wrapping up some story-lines nicely but leaving others dangling over cliff edges.

Winter is coming.

HBO's 'Game of Thrones' Season 4 finale airs tonight at 9 PM EST. Be sure to check back later for my review of the episode.